Cults are a fascinating topic in the real and fictional worlds: the Manson family, Heaven’s Gate, Jonestown, The Handmaid’s Tale, Under the Banner of Heaven…all solid grist for stories.
But if you haven’t experienced one, it’s easy to fall into clichés. There are many reasons people start, join, or stay in a cult, not merely the simple ones. In an article for Writer’s Digest, Stephanie Wrobel shares what she learned about cults while writing her latest novel. She picked her top three:
- Nobody signs up for a cult. People don’t intentionally join cults – they join self-help groups, churches, and political movements because they are looking for something bigger than themselves. Fictional presentations focus on the goofy stuff – rituals and clothing – but many cults begin with good intentions, Wrobel notes, even the ones that crash and burn.
- There are three elements to a cult. We think of many groups as cults, but for an official definition, a cult has a single charismatic leader; it cuts off members from friends and family; and it has an apocalyptic message, Wrobel writes. In other words, something terrible is going to happen, only one person can fix it, and you have to go with them now.
- Brainwashing isn’t real. Plot twist! Several of Wrobel’s sources confirmed that while persuasion, abuse, and bullying are real, brainwashing is not. While members are conditioned to be loyal, they have to be willing to participate in the cult in the first place.
“We, as a society, tend to be hard on people who get caught in the web of a cult,” Wrobel notes. “To reliably portray the story of a cult, we should first walk around in the members’ and even the leader’s shoes. We should imagine ourselves stuck and yearning for something more. If we examine cults with this lens, we come to understand the critical component we have in common with these groups: a desire to belong and be understood, the daring to hope for a better future.”
